Petitions calling for the ouster of Loveland Mayor Mark Fitzgerald are sufficient, and the question will be certified to the fall ballot conditional on the mayor’s right to resign.

These were the rulings of the Hamilton County Board of Elections this week with regards to the second round of petitions filed by the political action group Loveland Community Heartbeat, the group behind the effort to recall the mayor.

Fitzgerald has until midnight, Monday, Aug. 14 to resign. If the mayor does not resign, an election will be held Nov. 7, explained Board of Elections Director Sherry Poland.

The board also denied a protest of the petition to recall filed on behalf of Fitzgerald by attorney Doug Holthus. Neither Holthus or Fitzgerald attended a Friday morning hearing before the board of elections to consider the protest.

This might not be the end of the trail for the recall issue. In both a letter to the board of elections and an interview with The Enquirer, Holthus indicated he and his client are considering their options.

“We appreciate the efforts of the board,” Holthus said. “We don’t’ agree with the decision, and we are considering options and further legal recourse.”

Fitzgerald.

Fitzgerald.

File photo

Loveland Community Heartbeat spokeswoman Halie Rebeccaschild said she was happy with the outcome of this week's rulings.

“My thoughts overall are that the residents of Loveland, the electorate has spoken clearly twice with their signatures,” she said. “They put their confidence in us and in the electoral process. All we’re asking for is a recall election that will allow people to vote on Nov. 7 and there’s nothing more democratic than that.”

The Loveland mayor has been the target of recall efforts since earlier this year when Loveland Community Heartbeat initiated the petition to oust him. After three months, and more than 2,000 signatures, the first set of petitions was ruled insufficient prompting the most recent campaign that collected 1,800 signatures in one week. This set of petitions was ruled sufficient.

Recall elections are rather rare. The last recall election in Hamilton County was in November 2005. The subject of the recall was LaVerne Mitchell, mayor of the Village of Lincoln Heights. The recall initiative was successful winning nearly 53 percent voter approval.

"Misinformation" and "conduct" are at the heart of the recall initiative, Rebeccaschild stated for an earlier article.

Among the group's concerns is a lawsuit involving Fitzgerald dating back to when he was the administrator for North College Hill. He was not forthcoming with this information when running for Loveland Council, Rebeccaschild previously said.

According to the previous reporting, in 2014 former North College Hill Councilwoman Shawna O'Shea filed a lawsuit claiming then-Mayor Dan Brooks and then-City Administrator Mark Fitzgerald misused city funds. Nearly three years later, North College Hill Council voted 4-3 to settle the lawsuit. As a result of the settlement, Fitzgerald can not work for the city again.